it's alive. millions along the east coast prepare for a direct hit from the monster weather system that forecasters call frankenstein storm. >> the candidates pulling in votes and the cash at campaign 2012 that's on track to become the most expensive race in history. cannibal cop. a new york city police officer is arrested and charged with plotting to kidnap, kill and eat potential victims. this is the "cbs morning news" for friday, october 26, 2012. good morning, everybody. good to be with you. i'm terrell brown. this morning hurricane sandy is moving over the bahamas but the entire eastern seaboard of the

united states has been put on alert. this mega storm combined with a second weather system coming from the west is expected to impact the entire east coast early next week with dangerous and destructive weather. sandy is blamed for 21 deaths in the caribbean, most of them in cuba and haiti. the storm has weakened somewhat. sandy is expected to grow in size as it moves north. tropical storm conditions are expected along the east coast of florida throughout the day. danielle nottingham has more. >> reporter: florida is feeling the effects of hurricane sandy. strong winds are whipping the surf into foam. the waves and heavy rain are flooding the streets near miami. the storm is still hundreds of miles away. sandy raged over the bahamas thursday after tearing through cuba and haiti as a category 2 hurricane. florida residents are not taking this storm in stride. >> as we're speaking i'm filling

sand bags. >> reporter: the center of sandy is expected to pass just off of florida's east coast friday afternoon, but forecasters say the worst of it may be four days and several hundred miles away. that's because there is a high pressure system blocking the easterly path, hurricanes usually follow into the open atlantic. sandy is expected to head up the coast then turn west, making landfall near new jersey on tuesday. that's where it could combine with a winter storm and cold arctic air. >> that means there's the possibility of storm force winds, major coastal flooding, power outages, and then inland areas we could be looking at some significant snows. how bad that coastal flood is will depend exactly how strong the storm is and exact location where it makes landfall. >> reporter: if pieces of this super storm comes together as predicted it could affect the northeast through next friday, causing at least $1 billion in

damages. danielle nottingham, cbs news, indian harbor beach, florida. a suicide bomber attacked a mosque in northern afghanistan this morning. police say 35 people were killed, 70 others were injured. the bomber truck at the start of a four day religious holiday. the bomb exploded outside the mosque where a large crowd gathered. many of the wounded are in serious condition. the cost of presidential politics. this year's campaign passed the $2 billion mark in fundraising. put it on track to be the costliest election in history. they both have raised $1.7 billion and another $300 billion in super p.a.c. ads. the candidates are working hard to shore up support in key battleground states. susan mcginnis has more. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning. the election is 11 days away,

but right had now both candidates are working hard to get vote towers the polls before november 6th. president obama cast his early ballot in chicago as he tried to boost turnout before election day. >> all of you who have not yet early voted i just want everybody to see what an incredibly efficient process this was. >> reporter: it's a strategy the president's team will hope give it an edge in battleground states that will likely decide the election. the president wrapped up a 40 hour tour through four those competitive states with a rally last night in cleveland. >> i need you, ohio. america needs you, ohio. >> reporter: ohio is also where mitt romney focused his day making three campaign stops. >> the obama campaign is slipping because he's talking about smaller and smaller things. despite the fact that america has such huge challenges and this is such an opportunity for america and that's why on

november 6th i'm counting on ohio to vote for big change. >> reporter: no republican ever won the white house without carrying ohio. that has both sides staging aggressive campaigns there to convince vote towers cast their ballots now. >> i want to remove every elm pediment there is for everybody to exercise their constitutional rights and vote. >> we see sometimes people missing elections coming out to take advantage of early voting. >> reporter: more than 7 million people nationwide have cast early ballots. and this was the first time that a sitting president cast an early ballot in person. terrell. >> susan mcginnis in washington this morning. have a good weekend. some prominent republicans are lining up against former secretary of state colin powell after he said he would once again support president obama. powell a republican endorsed the president on thursday's edition of cbs "this morning" and the criticism powell received from the gop was immediate and sharp.

>> i signed on for a long patrol with president obama, and i don't think this is the time to make such a sudden change. >> colin powell said he would support president obama in the election based on the president's efforts to improve the economy and wind down the war in afghanistan. he also expressed concern about mitt romney's stance on foreign policy. >> i think there's some very, very strong neo-conservative views that are presented by the governor that i have some trouble with. >> president obama called to thank the former secretary of state and later mentioned the endorsement at a campaign stop. >> you know i was proud and humbled to learn today that we have colin powell's support in this campaign. >> it is the second time powell gave his endorsement to the president obama. in 2008 he broke ranks with the gop to support then senator obama. on cbs "this morning" co-host norah o'donnell asked powell if he's still a republican? >> i think i'm a republican of a more moderate mold and that's something of a dying breed i'm

sorry to say. >> powell served under three republican presidents but his support of the democratic ticket rankled some in the gop. senator mccain responded while campaigning for romney in florida. >> he's obviously endorsed barack obama last time and it's not surprising he would do that this time. i just wish he wouldn't call himself a republican any more. >> mccain said that powell haunts his legacy by endorsing the president and on cnn the co-chairman of president obama's campaign suggests powell's endorsement may have nothing to do with presidential politics. >> you have to wonder if that's an endorsement based on issues or whether he has a slightly different reason for preferring president obama. >> what reason would that be? >> well, i think when you have somebody of your own race that you're proud of being president of the united states, i applaud colin for standing with him. >> after that interview sununu

walked back on those remarks. he said he believed it was based on nothing but policy. the u.s. cult -- consulate in benghazi. left clifr stevens and three other americans dead. david martin reports. >> reporter: two and a half hours after the attack began a drone was diverted to the consulate in benghazi. that plus a second unarmed drone dispatched four hours and 15 minutes later were the only military forces sent to the scene of the attack. commandos were dispatched from europe to sigonella, sicily. leon panetta defended the

response saying the situation on the ground was too confusion. >> you don't deploy forces into harm's way without knowing what's going on, without having some real-time information about what's taking place. designee said senior officers including general carter hamm and general martin dempsey all opposed military intervention. >> general hamm, general dempsey and i felt very electronically we could not put forces at risk in that situation. >> the attack occurred on the anniversary of 9/11. >> did you have forces on any heightened alert in that area because of the approaching anniversary? >> we did. >> let me point out, it was 9/11 every where in the world. >> defense officials say a general alert had been issued to u.s. forces worldwide. but no special alert for libya because there was no

intelligence predicting an attack. david martin, cbs news, the pentagon. coming up on a friday morning a case in new york of cop cannibalism. marketplace melee. a violent clash between merchants and police in the capital of peru. this is the morning news. [ male announcer ] there's everyday chicken

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where just one touch creates the perfect cup. where every cappuccino and latte is made with fresh milk. ♪ and where clothing is optional. nespresso. what else? in lima, peru a clash broke out between riot police and merchants who were trying to block a produce market to another site. vendors threw rocks, police responded with tear gas. one policeman on horseback was beaten after falling from his horse. the violence left one person dead. more than 40 others injured. a heartbreaking double killing in new york city leaves two young children dead. police say the children's nanny snapped and fatally stabbed the 2-year-old boy an 6-year-old girl in a bathtub.

she then stabbed herself in the neck with a kitchen knife. the children's mother discovered the horror after coming home with her third child. >> heard screams heard by a neighbor who alerted police and who arrived and found the children dead. >> unbelievable. it was unbelievable. i can't imagine what the mother is feeling. >> the 50-year-old nanny is in critical condition. also in new york a police officer is accused of a plot of can mallism. valle is facing charges that he planned to kidnap, torture, kill cook and eat at least two women. investigators said he kept a database of potential victims and worked with two co-conspirators. they found details of 100 potential victims on his computer. he used a national police database to get that information. judge up next a look at this morning's business headlines

plus your friday morning weather. in sports after fighting it out in game one, the san francisco giants turn a small ball in game two. ♪ [ male announcer ] every time you say no to a cigarette

you celebrate a little win. nicorette gum helps calm your cravings and makes you less irritable. quit one cigarette at a time. look at these teeth! they're made for meat! [ cat 2 ] do i look like i'm stalking plants? [ male announcer ] most dry foods add plant protein, like gluten but iams never adds gluten. iams adds 50% more animal protein, [ cat 3 ] look at this body! under this shiny coat is a lean, mean purring machine [ cat 4 ] i am too! hahahaha! [ male announcer ] iams. with 50% more animal protein. [ cat 5 ] yum! [ cat 1 ] i'm an iams cat. feed me what i'm born to eat. meow. here's a look at the weather in some cities around the country. in new york mostly cloudy 68 degrees. miami, hurricane conditions, 81. mostly cloudy in chicago, 50. showers in dallas 58 and sunny in l.a. 86 degrees. let's check your national forecast. hurricane sandy is moving

through the bahamas headed towards the eastern seaboard. tropical storm alerts are in effect along florida's atlantic coast. light snow end in colorado. showers and thunderstorms will pop up in the ohio valley. expect showers and mountain snow in the pacific northwest. cbs moneywatch time now on a friday. not the apple of their eye. and a bag of coffee with your fries? delicious, huh? ashley morrison has horse. >> reporter: good morning. asian markets are lower and concern about corporate earnings. tokyo lost one and 1/3 percent. apple missed expectations for a second kwf quarter. it blames the falloff of producing its new gadgets. apple shares fell 1% thursday to just over $603 a share. and amazon the world's largest online retailer also missed

analysts expectations posting a loss of $270 million. more than half of that is blamed on amazon in living social, online competitor to groupon. it fell more than 2% to more than $222 a share. wall street posted modest gains. the dow jones industrial average closed up 26 points thursday while the nasdaq ended ahead by four points. microsoft releases its latest version of its flagship softway today. microsoft says windows 8 is the most dramatic overhaul of the system in 17 years. it's designed to run on pcs, tablets and smart phones. also today microsoft begins selling its own computer tablet. you can soon pick up a bag of ground coffee along with a happy meal in canada. it will sell 12 ounce bags for $7 at its stores north of the

border next month. no word from mctonld's when and if it offers in the u.s. i like that idea. >> you can probably fill up your car at mcdonald's after a while. >> it would being a great. >> ashley have a good weekend. in sports this morning game two of the world series in san francisco last night. brian stou was in attendance as a guest of the team. bottom of the second, tiger pitcher hit in the head with a batted ball. goes to center-field for a single. nightmare. he would stay in the game. scoreless in the seventh. giants played small ball. lays down a perfect bunt that stops in fair territory. next batter grounds to a double play. go ahead run comes home. san francisco tacks on another run in the eighth to lead the

tigers 2-0. thursday night football, shortcut, 64 yards for the td. he adds a one yard td run. they stopped minnesota 36-17. nba commissioner david stern is retiring. stern has guided the league since 1984 and helped turn it into a $5 billion a year industry. he'll step down on february 1st, 2014, exactly 30 years to the day that he took the job. when we come back, vacations not just for humans. case in point, elmo took some time off not too long ago. i'm so serious. it did him a world of good. like a better breakfast so on august eighth we woke up a sleepy town to show that eating well can be easy and delicious with jennie-o turkey bacon and sausage

cooked thoroughly to 165 definitely very good it's excellent this is delicious makes me want to eat breakfast more it's time for a better breakfast i can't stop eating this make the switch look for jennie-o at a store near you

here's a look at the weather in some cities around the country. mostly cloudy in washington. 73 degrees.

partly sunny in atlanta, 79. mostly cloudy in st. louis 54 degrees. morning snow showers in denver 40. morning rain in seattle 47 degrees. a florida girl vacationing with her family thought she had lost her cherished elmo doll for good but she got it back and it has a story to tell. this 5-year-old took it along to her hotel in florida but headed back to her home empty handed. hotel employees found it and sent it back with a handmade book showing what elmo did. lounging around and living large at the hotel. >> in this hi-tech world nobody goes above and beyond to do the extra special thing and this guy nelson at the ritz not only returned to elmo to us but made a book that she will have for the rest of her life. >> she has had that elmo doll since she was born.

i mean can i be elmo? being elmo sound pretty good right now. right? i'm terrell brown. this is the morning news. or. flavor, meet food. it's time for swanson flavor boost. concentrated broth in easy to use packets. mix it into skillet dishes, for an instant dose of... hell-o! [ female announcer ] get recipes at flavorboost.com.

sunday morning on "biocentury this week," how families are leading the search in the hunt for rare disease cures. watch "biocentury this week" sunday at 8:30 only . good morning. welcome to 9news now today. is friday, october 26. happy to have you with us. i'm andrea roane. it feefls so good, doesn't it -- it feels so good, doesn't it? i'm jessica doyle in for mike

hydeck. monika samtani here and howard bernstein? >> sandy will give us some rain. the bigger problems won't be until monday into tuesday. this morning we're dealing with fog and drizzle. look at the satellite imagery on sandy. is doesn't have that concent rick eye, circle you were seeing when it was coming over cuba but it's still looking like a strong storm and dealing with some sheer in the upper level. it's maintaining itself. the hurricane advisory at 2:00 has winds of 85 gusting to 115 moving off toward the north, northwest at 13 miles an hour. let's show you the latest track. this will be a problem for parts of the mid at listen tick and northeast -- mid-atlantic and northeast. it won't be as bad as if we were in northern new jersey.

forecasting the intensities is a challenge. is it going to maintain a tropical structure or turning to a hybrid storm, extra tropical. in any event, does look like the path will get near hatteras. 55 mile an hour winds could extend 120 miles from the center. 34, 40 mile an hour winds. it will have a massive wind field. this is the on shore flow into northern new jersey, long island, new york. the cone goes all the way down to norfolk. if it comes farther south and west, our threat increases. i'll show you the model forecast. there are a couple of models that do bring it off to the south, a lot closer to us.

yes, a lot of things still to consider. for us today, we're starting out with the low clouds, some fog. we'll stay cloudy through midday. 65 at noon. some sun like yesterday with the high around 71, maybe 72. right now we've got 63 degrees with some fog. visibility in easton one- quarter of a mile. visibility in tappahannock less than two and in the mountains areas less than half a mile. your temperatures still on the mild side now. with them in the 50s and low 60s. with sandy that will bring in some cold air. when you see the seven-day forecast, you'll have to bust out the jackets and warm gear. monika samtani has timesaver traffic. thank you so much. at least right now road conditions are good and it's friday morning light. all around good on the beltway and all of your major thoroughfares. on the inner loop of the beltway, there was an accident just a few minutes ago at route 50 moved to the right shoulder. you should be okay through that area considering how light it is outside.

no problems on 66 or the dulles toll road as you head for the beltway. let's take a live look outside. if you're planning to head here on the northbound side of 395 to the 14th street bridge, insides the beltway, you're okay till you get to the out bound 3rd street tunnel. we're just getting word of an accident possibly blocking all lanes outbound 3rd street tunnel. keep that in mind for your travel plans if that's where you're headed this morning. we're looking good on the beltway college park into bethesda. 270 out of frederick, no problems. at shady grove road all lanes are open as you head inbound. no problems on route 355 or the great seneca highway. i'll be back with more at 4:43. back to you guys. hurricane sandy has already claimed 20 lives in the caribbean. >> residents along florida's east coast are bracing for powerful effects of sandy. we have the latest from